Channel 14 on Thursday revealed new details about the first Haredi brigade in the IDF since the establishment of the Jewish State in 5708. The Haredi soldiers of the Hasmonean Brigade must pledge to observe the commandments, wear Shabbat clothes during prayers and meals on the Day of Rest, and participate in daily Torah lessons. The kashrut standards will be the most “Mehadrin,” and the soldiers will be obligated to pray three prayers a day – four on Shabbat, and five on Yom Kippur.
THESE ARE THE 10 COMMANDMENTS OF THE HASMONEAN BRIGADE
- The Hasmonean Brigade will strictly observe the commandments according to Halacha.
- The Hasmonean Brigade will be run according to a Haredi lifestyle to allow those who serve there to maintain their identity.
- Service in the brigade is not a melting pot; moreover, the brigade will make every effort not to disconnect those who serve there from his community.
- The brigade will maintain a full gender service of men only without compromise, throughout the entire period of service and in every place and/or framework in which it operates (except for operational activity during war, and this too out of the necessity to protect life only).
- The brigade will provide food under “Mehadrin” kosher supervision of Badatz and/or Rabbi Landau only.
- The brigade obliges all those who serve there to pray in a minyan three times a day.
- The brigade obliges all those who serve there to participate in Torah classes every day (except for operational activity during a war, and this too out of the necessity to protect life only).
- The IDF is committed to maintaining a Haredi rabbinical body, comprised of rabbis from a variety of communities within Haredi society who support serving in the brigade. This rabbinical body will accompany the brigade and deal with every aspect of the Haredi spiritual and Torah-related needs of those who serve there, and supervise the maintenance of the Haredi identity of the Haredi soldier.
- The brigade will make sure that the rabbis come and will continue to come in the future from within the Haredi public.
- All the commanders and support staff must be God-fearing and observers of Torah and Mitzvot.
Finally: the soldiers will be required to wear a black kippah throughout their service, dress in Shabbat clothes on non-operational Shabbat days, and maintain a Haredi lifestyle throughout their service, even while at home. And they will be prohibited from using unfiltered cell phones.
It looks like the Division’s rules may be stricter than some Haredi Yeshivas.
Before we end this report and wish our Haredi soldiers a huge Mazal Tov, I’d like to make one personal observation about the name picked for the new Haredi unit by the powers that be in the IDF: the Hasmonean Brigade. It is named after the dynasty that ruled Judea from the 2nd century to the first century BCE. The Hasmonean kings were the offspring of the five sons of Mattathias the priest, who led the revolt against Seleucid rule. From the start, the Hasmoneans violated the long-held tradition that Judea must be ruled by the offspring of King David, and not by priests, who were from the tribe of Levi. As a result, the entire line of Hasmonean kings were removed from office either due to madness, or assassinations. They were loathed by the sages, founding fathers of the Rabbinic tradition, who mistrusted their intentions and feared their affiliation with Hellenism. Wasn’t there a less controversial name for this very important IDF division?
During a meeting in July with Rabbi David Leibel for the purpose of establishing the Haredi brigade, Major General Zini and the head of the Planning and Human Resources Management, Brigadier General Shai Taib, were attacked by dozens of extremist Haredim who surrounded their vehicle, threw objects and bottles at them, and shouted insults. But I don’t think it was because of the choice of a name for the new unit…
